Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) remains on Yellow Alert for its central southern England and north of Scotland regions as its teams respond to the initial impact of Storm Ciara.

As forecast, storm force winds have impacted much of the country from the early hours of this morning, causing damage to overhead power lines from uprooted trees and other wind-borne debris. Gusts in excess of 80mph have been recorded in exposed locations, with 70mph gusts across inland areas. Wind speeds are expected to remain at storm-force until this afternoon and early evening, alongside flooding risk across parts of Hampshire.

As of 2pm, SSEN has successfully restored power to over 50,000 customers in central Southern England. Around 9,500 properties are currently off supply in central southern England with Oxfordshire, Wiltshire and Berkshire the areas most affected.

In the north of Scotland, power has been restored to over 3,000 customers. Around 900 properties are currently without supply, with limited disruption in parts of Argyll, Perthshire and Aberdeenshire.

SSEN is working to restore supplies as quickly as safely as possible through the course of the day and evening. However, further disruption is expected as the extreme weather continues to track across its regions. The next update will be provided at 6.30pm.

Stuart Hogarth, Director of Customer Operations at SSEN, said:

"Despite the extremely challenging weather conditions, our teams are making good progress restoring power to customers impacted by Storm Ciara. However, with severe weather conditions predicted to continue throughout the course of today, with many parts of the country still to experience the worst of the storm, we expect there to be further disruption to supplies. We remain on Yellow Alert and would like to reassure our customers we are well prepared to respond promptly to further disruption to supplies, where it is safe to do so.

"If anyone is concerned about the potential disruption to supplies for themselves or others, particularly family members or neighbours who may need extra support, please get in touch. I would also urge members of the public not to approach any damage to our equipment and instead, report it either by calling 105 or via our Power Track App and our teams will investigate as soon as possible."

In preparation for Storm Ciara, SSEN enacted its well-established resilience plans, increasing its resources in anticipation of potential damage to its network and moved teams of engineers and equipment to the areas expected to be impacted.

  • Over 1,000 field and support staff are ready to respond promptly to any damage to SSEN's network.
  • Mobile generation sets have been placed across SSEN's network areas to assist with restoration efforts.
  • Over 200 contact centre employees are available to respond promptly to customer enquiries.
  • SSEN's teams have proactively contacted over 700,000 customers on the Priority Services Register to provide updates and offer extra support where required.
  • Welfare facilities are on standby to support customers affected by potential prolonged disruption to supplies.
  • SSEN continues to liaise with local resilience partners to help coordinate efforts and ensure everyone is prepared for disruption throughout the course of the storm.

Customers are also being encouraged to be prepared for the possibility of disruption to power supplies by:

  • Saving the free-to-dial emergency power cut number - 105 - to your phone to use if your power goes off, or if you see any damage to the electricity network
  • Downloading SSEN's Power Track app to give you details of power cuts and restoration times
  • Going to SSEN's website where there is a wealth of advice and information on how to prepare for a possible loss of power
  • Following SSEN on Facebook and Twitter for regular updates

For more information on SSEN's Priority Services Register, please click here or call 0800 294 3259.